Decorative lighting outfit



. 1,637,046 July 1927' v. M. MONTSINGER I DECORATIVE LIGHTIN G OUTFIT Filed (lpril 22, 1922 Inventor Vincent M.Montsinger,

Patented July 26, 1927. :UNITED STATES p PATENT OFFICE.

mean u. nonrsmean, or rrrrsrmnn, .MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T GENERAL nm cmuc comramr, A coaroaarron or NEW YORK.

DECORATIVE LIGHTING OUTFIT.

Applloatioii aled April 22, 1922. Serial No. 556,088.

The present invention relates to decorative lighting and more especially to electric lightin of Christmas trees and the like.

any attempts have bee-11 made heretofore a to put u n the market electric lighting outfits for hi'istmas tree decoration, but on account of their unreliable and unsatisfactory performance the have failed to displace the old-fashioned ta low or wax taper from its long established position, although its hazardous character is well known.

In lighting a Christmas tree, it is required that there be a multitude of bright spots rather than a high degree of illumination, and in consequence thereof only very small lamps may be employed for that purpose. Small lamps have short filaments and correspondingly low resistivity. Fifteen volt lamps are the largest size deemed satisfactory for this particular use. The ordinary dwelling house electric lighting current is.

very generally supplied at about 120 volts and is accordingly unsuited for the direct use of small lamps.

One of the most commonly adopted expedients for operating miniature lamps from an ordinary house circuit is to arrange a number of such lamps in series between the high and low potential wires of the house circuit. It has been the practice to group the fifteen volt lamps together in series of eight, and to provide each outfit with one or more such groups.

It is well known that the failure of any one lamp in a series arrangement interrupts the flow of current in that circuit, and in consequence all other lamps in the series fail to operate, or, according to the catch phrase, one out all out. Relatively few users had the skill or patience to test out such a series circuit to locate the cause of trouble, and even when one was possessed of the necessary skill and patien e to make the requisite renewal the delay and interruption caused 4 thereby often spoiled or so seriously marred some festive occasion that the outfit was liable to be condemned to the waste heap after a single attempt to use it.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved Christmas tree lighting outfit, in which the several lamps are so arranged that each is entirely independent of the operation of every other lamp, in which the trunk'wires and the various branch wires i are connected and arranged to follow the natural tree structure, and in which the o1nts between the various wires are compact and esthetic in appearance and highly efiiclent electrically and mechanically.

The invention is shown in the accompanymg drawings, in 'which Fig. 1 is an outline of,a Christmas tree with one form of my lighting outfit applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a fullsized elevation of a moulded union about a wirejolnt; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 4 is a central transverse section of the same.

As shown in Fig. 1, the main or trunk conductor 1, which is double flexible wire with braided insulation, is designed to extend upwardly along the trunk of the Christmas tree, and at different levels has branch conductors 2 which are truncated or varied in length somewhat in accordance with the variati on in lengths of tree limbs at different levels. At the ends of each branch conductor and at the top end of the main conductor, there are sockets 3 for the reception of small or miniature lamps 4;.

In order that the conductors may withstand the severe usage to which an outfit of this character is subjected and also to care for the esthetic demands made of such a device, I makethe joints 5 between trunk line conductor and the branch conductors as follows: The several conductors have at their points of union short sections of the braided insulation 6 stripped therefrom and each pair of wires separated by a fibre disk 7 passed between the positive and negative wires of the trunk and branch conductors. The insulation 8 of the individual wires is removed from short sections at the points of crossing and a drop of solder 9 applied to each crossing. About the severed ends of the braided insulation 6, the bared wires, and the disk 7, is molded under pressure a mass of insulating compound 10. This provides a permanent union of neat and esthetic appearance, thoroughly insulating the conductors operating under difference. of potential, effectively uniting together the severed ends of the braided insulation about the wires, and providing a rigid encasement for the soldered joints so that mechanical stresses imposed upon any of the wires cannot operate to break the electrical connection between branch and trunk line wires.

In the arrangement shown,it will be observed that there are twenty-one lamps all connectedoin multiple relation and with the same difierence in otential existing throughout the system. ince the 1am s for this particular service are practical y restricted to fifteen volts, it is necessary to supply the electric power to the system at that. voltage.

In order to employ the ordinary .house current to operate the Christmas tree system, I have designed a step down transformer 11 ada ted to stand on the floor back of or conceale by the tree with one coil connected by a flexible conductor. 12 to an ordinary base outlet 13, while the other coil is' equi ed with terminals 14 to which the flexi e trunk conductor of the. system is connected.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is,-

1. An electrical connection comprising a double wire trunk conductor, double 'wire branch conductors crossing said trunk conductors and with wires of like polarity electrieally connected at said crossing, insulating means disposed between the wires of unlike polarity at said crossings, and insulating compound molded about said crossed conductors and insulating means.

2. An electrical connection comprising a trunk conductor composed of two insulated wires having thereon braided coverin s separated by bare sections, branch con uctors of like construction having lamp sockets at their ends and disposed transversely of the trunk conductor with the wires joined at the bare sections, insulating disks disposed between the wires of opposite potential at the points of intersection, and insulating compound moulded about the ends of the braidedcovering, the wires and said disks.

In witness whereof, I have'hereunto set my hand this 18th day of April, 1922.

VINCENT M. MONTSI-NGER. 

